Free Fruit? There's An App for That

by Josh Friedland

on 01/15/10 at 05:00 PM

Here's an interesting new food-oriented application for the iPhone: Find Fruit, a GPS for locating fruit trees on public land near you.
The app comes from the people behind NeighborhoodFruit.com, which provides information about fruit trees growing in public spaces and encourages fruit sharing between fruit tree owners and prospective eaters.

Find Fruit mashes up data on fruit tree locations in parks and other public land with Google's mapping technology. "Find Fruit unlocks cities, enabling you to explore in new ways. Instead
of being trapped in the concrete jungle, this app is your key to the
edible urban forest!" You may also narrow your search by season and pull up details on specific fruit trees and other urban edibles.

The utility of the app will clearly depend on your particular location. From my location - 21st Street and Lexington in Manhattan - there wasn't any fruit to be found within walking distance, though there was a persimmon tree on the East side of Central Park near 74th Street. Slim pickings, but not surprising for New York in the dead of winter.

It's a different story if you were strolling through San Francisco's Mission District, where avocados, guavas, and lemons are -- according to the app -- within easier reach. Lunch anyone?

While the fruit may be free, Find Fruit is not (it's $.99 via iTunes). See the iTunes store for more details about downloading.